Shoot First, Ask Questions Later: GH Sonny’s transformation

Finally! FINALLY! Someone gets to have a grown up conversation with Sonny Corinthos about why his “shoot first and ask questions later” policy is just a tad bit dangerous (like the plague, diving without a parachute, and flying a plane without refueling). You’d think that shooting his pregnant wife in the head while she was delivering their child would be a bit of motivation to become a little more reflective and not so blantantly self-indulgent in his rage. That would mean that you a – live in known universe and adhere to the laws of phyics and reason, and b – you haven’t imagined Sonny as a living person who is totally so cool, and that he would totally be your best friend and play Xbox and Dungeons and Dragons with you if he knew you. I’m not sure the GH writers could claim either of the above.

While I expect to hate any moment that gives Patrick the right to utter the big, “I told you so” moment to Robin, I did savor this one just a bit! I didn’t enjoy seeing Robin shot, it was awful. I did enjoy the fallout once she was ok. Patrick fearlessly snarling at Sonny to get out? Thank you, writers. Robin telling Sonny that he should have been more concerned for Emma’s emotional well being? Awesome! For little Emma to have to say to her father that “Mommy was shot” was excruciating. What child should ever witness the violation of a parent or any loved one? The short answer is none, but when Sonny is a part of your life, it’s evident that at some point your children will experience an event that most children won’t ever witness – and that’s scary when you realize that fact includes soap children was well. Most soap children have never seen their parents shot in their own home:

That scene is devastating. (And P.S. LOVE new little Emma. She could teach a few of her older colleagues in daytime how to convey emotion). What that scene also tells us is that:

1. Sonny’s disregard for Emma’s psychological pain is an indication of his inability to consider his own children’s psychological pain – given that he loves Robin as if she’s family. His own expectations of becoming a victim of his lifestyle seems, as the writers convey it, to mean that his stubborn and irascible egocentrism allows him to believe that everyone, children included, should be able to accept death, and anything that falls shorts of that is… WINNING!… Loser. He is only lucky that the gun wasn’t aimed in Emma’s direction when Robin fought to stop him from killing Jax. No one knew the child was in the room. She could have just as easily been a victim of a stray bullet. Just as he expects his children to recover from kidnapping, assault, and the constant threat of becoming victims of his enemies, he expects children who don’t live with daily violence to live happily with the consequences of violent outburts.

Further consider the Doomsday Don’s treatment of his firstborn, Dante (another shoot first/ask questions later victim) . Sonny spents months on end trying to convince everyone of his great love for his son. Then he assaults Dante in order to be able to get to Jax. Killing Jax was more important to Sonny than the already fragile relationship he has with his first born.

His children, other people’s children, they’re all for show, and how little they count when they’re in the way of what Sonny wants.

2. Sonny is blinded by his hatred. DUH, right? It’s not just the obvious things (like the fact that he DRIVES people away, not that they leave because they’ve been tricked by others or that they’ve misunderstood)… it’s the little things, too. How was Robin supposed to live in that house, with her family, if Jax’s blood was spilled in her home? For Sonny, replacing the carpets, drapes, and cleaning the walls would have been sufficient, for people who’ve chosen to save lives – not take them, it’s not that easy. They wouldn’t find comfort in new drapes knowing that unseen traces of a good man’s life were left in their hardwood floors, the pores of their walls, and in their memories. They would remember Jax in that room and remember what Sonny did to him.

While Jax’s death would haunt the Scorpio-Drakes, it would have given Sonny endless satisfaction. As Carly pointed out, Sonny does not care that he killed her father and has taken every possible father-daughter moment away from her. Yeah, Carly, who cheered Sonny on when he set Jax up to lose custody. At least there is some point at which she says NO… too bad that point is death (or least death as far as they know it).

There is WAY more yum where that came from:

3. It’s likely that in the take down of Sonny Corinthos, this one vile act that FINALLY turns everyone against Sonny may also be connected to Jason’s storyline and may be the final nail in the coffin. Everyone hating Sonny so quickly makes me wonder if these scenes are re-shoots and are tied into Jason’s eventual recovery. IF Jason wakes up and becomes a new person, as has been hinted in GH promos, what will he become? WHO will he become? Assuming he has no memory of being Jason Morgan, he can become anything and anyone he wants to. Let’s assume he wakes up remembering what he’s done, but it’s as if someone else commited those acts. He dissociates, disgusted by the acts committed by the man with face. After a period of self-loathing, he moves away from the mob life and rejoins the Qs (rebuilding the family).

Suddenly, Sonny is totally and utterly alone. The only true friend he’s every had is gone. Carly finally sees Sonny for what he is and she’s done with him (whoda thunk that would ever happen!?!) Brenda has escaped his clutches. His children are angry at him. Robin won’t speak to him. His world is shattered. Given the sudden onset of the Sonny disgust, I’m not sure if the storyline is meant to garner sympathy for the character or serve as the lead in to character growth:

Will Sonny change and permanently put the mob behind him, becoming a legitimate business leader? If so, that new role should come with a less Valdermort worthy wardrobe. There’s no shade of black and gray the lollipop mob boss hasn’t worn. It’s time to let it go.

Will he be “redeemed”, GH style, when it’s revealed that Anthony Zacharra really is a bigger monster than Sonny? That Anthony has successfully killed before our eyes, and that Sonny’s kills are offscreen is not redepemtion. The writers should know that.

Will he assume that saying he’s sorry is enough, or will we see true remorse from Sonny who works to make amends with those he’s wronged? Sonny will eventually be forgiven, I have no doubt about that, but it’s a process that should take time, and maybe not have forgiveness be given from everyone. Robin will forgive, of course. Even after her shot her in front of her daughter, she didn’t want to have the police called. She put her license on the line, and that of her husband’s, by treating a gun shot wound without reporting it.

What can’t happen is having the writers “save” Sonny by having him fall into a bout of depression and blame his recent actions on his bipolar condition (they’ve gone to that well far too many times). It works about as well as having him continue to fault his stepfather for the fact that he continues to kill others for a living and puts his children at risk.

What also won’t work is for Sonny to become all goodness and light. Who would buy it?

What would/might work is making Sonny the new Luke in the sense that he becomes the show’s new anti-hero, the anti-hero Luke once was, at least. Sonny could spend his days not worrying about other people’s problems (like now) but get involved when he has to protect those he loves, or others, from bad guys by working with Dante to bring them down. Luke Spencer and Robert Scorpio become Sonny Corinthos and Dante Falconeri. Luke and Lucky become Sonny and Dante. It takes a while to get use to the thought of it, I know, but give it some time. Wouldn’t anything be better than the doom and gloom Sonny brings to the show, now?

Great piece, Norrth. I hope that everyone abandons Sonny – but as of today, Garin Wolf has not taken this opportunity to keep Michael growing away from his ‘father.’ I loved when the kids were SORAS’d – and I love the actor playing Michael, but he’s become FF material unless Wolf has a character arc that I’m unaware of… Right now, Michael’s become Sonny’s ‘bitch’ and I’m finding it hard to watch.

Well done, Norrth! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head where Sonny is concerned. And I’ve been waiting for YEARS to hear all these people say these things to Sonny! I’m enjoying GH’s new writing so far and can’t wait to see where we go from here.

An essay in response to an online Feminist essay on the rapes or non-rapes of Sam McCall and Connie Falconeri, and how that affects the perceptions of General Hospitals three resident rapists: Luke Spencer, Todd Manning, and, yes, Sonny Corinthos….